Print surface positioning system for food product printer

ABSTRACT

A system and method for positioning a food product with respect to a print head for printing on a surface thereof. The system is incorporated into a printer. The system has a movable support surface for supporting the food product thereon, the support surface being vertically and horizontally moveable with respect to the print head. A sensor is provided for detecting a position of a surface of the food product positioned on the moveable support surface with respect to the print head. The sensor provides a signal to the printer indicative of a position of the surface of the food product and wherein the moveable support surface is adjustable in response thereto. The sensor is a position sensor configured to detect the position of a top surface of the food product.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/003,324, filed Aug. 26, 2020, whichclaims priority to and the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser.No. 62/894,323, filed on Aug. 30, 2019, the contents of which are herebyincorporated in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Printing with edible ink on food products is done for purposes ofidentifying, marking, decorating or personalizing the food product. Forexample, food products such as cookies can be passed under a print headejecting edible ink on the top surface of the cookie, whether iced orplain, can be printed with a selected design.

Currently, a conveyor belt system or tray is used where one or morecookies are spaced apart in an array on the conveyor belt or tray andpassed below the print head of the printer. Alternatively, labelscomprised of edible paper can be printed with edible ink and applied toa food item with an edible adhesive such as frosting or icing.

Systems of the prior art that are able to print images on an array offood products supported on a conveyor belt or a tray with two or morecolumns of food products requires a larger and more expensive printer onthe scale of a commercial printer. Such systems also usually requiresophisticated sensing systems to locate the position of each food itemfor printing.

In the prior art systems, the loading and unloading of a food product ona tray or conveyor during printing is generally impractical. Theconveyor or tray are often not accessible while products are beingprinted. It is also difficult to accurately load a food product on amoving conveyor or tray. It is also difficult to load a food product ona moving conveyor or tray without adversely affecting the print qualityof the image currently being printed.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system for positioninga food product with respect to a print head for printing on a surfacethereof. The system is incorporated into a printer. The system has amovable support surface for supporting the food product thereon, thesupport surface being vertically and horizontally moveable with respectto the print head. A sensor is provided for detecting a position of asurface of the food product positioned on the moveable support surfacewith respect to the print head. The sensor provides a signal to theprinter indicative of a position of the surface of the food product andwherein the moveable support surface is adjustable in response thereto.

The sensor is a position sensor configured to detect the position of atop surface of the food product.

The sensor comprises an emitter and a receiver spaced apart within theprinter with the print head therebetween.

The emitter provides a beam light across a print area below the printhead for detecting a vertical position of the surface of the foodproduct with respect to a nozzle of the print head.

The support surface is selectively and automatically positionable belowthe print head, the positioning of the support surface based at least inpart on a thickness of the food product supported thereon, a selecteddistance between the print surface and a print nozzle for printing, orcombinations thereof.

The printer is an ink jet printer configured for use with edible ink.

The support surface is constructed from a food grade material comprisinga metal such as stainless steel, or a plastic material.

The support surface is textured to provide a co-efficient of frictionsufficient to securely retain the food product thereon during movementand printing.

The food product is an edible element having a substantially flatsurface, a pastry, cookie, frosting sheet, rice paper, or a combinationthereof.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is a method of detecting andadjusting a position of a print surface of a food product for printingcontent thereon. A support surface holding a food product thereon isretracted into a printer for positioning the food product below a printhead of the printer and a position of a print surface of the foodproduct below the print head of the printer is detected with a sensor.Content is then printed directly on a surface of the food product.

The detected position of the print surface is compared to apre-determined position of the print surface for printing and a positionof the support surface below the print head is adjusted when thedetected position is outside of the pre-determined position.

A vertical position of the support surface is adjusted to match thepre-determined position to adjust the vertical position of the printsurface of the food product with respect to the print head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food product printing system.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a food product printing system with acover portion opened for exposing interior portions of a printer portionof the system.

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the food product printing systemhaving an automatic delivery tray component removed and a cover of aprinter removed.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the food product printing system with theautomatic delivery tray component removable secured to a tray baseportion.

FIG. 5A is a side perspective view of the printer system without ahousing or cover.

FIG. 5B is an additional side perspective view of the printer systemwithout a housing or cover.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a sensor system of the printer system.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the food product printing system with foodproduct for printing loaded thereon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A print surface detecting system described herein can be incorporatedinto a food product printing system where the printing system includes aprinter for printing an image on a surface of the food product. Theprint surface may be an actual surface of the food product itself. Asthe position of the print surface may vary between food products duringprinting, the print surface detecting system detects the position of theprint surface within the printer to initiate printing on a selected areaof the print surface. The printer surface detecting system comprises areceiving arm and sensor that may be incorporated into a printer system.For example, the printer surface detecting system is provided in aprinter system also having a delivery tray for providing food productsfor printing thereon. The delivery tray is configured for continuousdelivery of a varied number of food products, and/or for food productsof different or specific dimensions to the receiving arm. The receivingarm then delivers the food product to the printer. The print surfacedetecting system then detects the position of the print surface of thefood product and printing is initiated and adjusted accordingly.

More specifically, the print surface detecting system includes areceiving arm that moves horizontally and vertically to deliver the foodproduct for printing and one or more sensors for detecting a horizontaland vertical position of the print surface with respect to a print headof the printer.

The print surface detecting system allows the food product to betransferred from the delivery tray to the print head or print area ofthe printer without movement of the delivery tray. This simplifies thedelivery of food products from the delivery tray to the receiving arm.The system also allows the receiving arm to be positioned vertically sothat an upper surface of the food product or the print surface, ispositioned at an ideal distance from the print head and print nozzles,regardless of the thickness or height of the individual food product.The print surface detecting system detects the vertical position of thetop surface of the food product so the printer can automaticallyposition each food product at an ideal level for printing. The systemalso sends a signal to indicate the actual presence of the food productwithin the print area for printing when the food product is present.

In further detail, the receiving arm is configured for receiving a foodproduct from the delivery tray and moving the food product from thedelivery tray into the printer and into a printing position. Theprinting position is substantially below a print head of the printersuch that the surface to be printed on is in the path of the print head.The sensors detect the position of this surface such that the positionof the receiving arm can be adjusted to place the print surface in aselected print position. For example, the receiving arm can be raised orlowered to ensure the print surface is a selected distance from theprint nozzles. Once the food product is printed, the receiving arm thenreturns the printed food product to the delivery tray. The delivery trayis also configured to move in one or more directions in order tocontinuously and automatically deliver a plurality of food itemssequentially to the receiving arm. Sequential food products may havevarying thicknesses for example and the position of the receiving armduring printing can then be adjusted “on the fly” during printing aplurality of food items to ensure each product is printed with a highquality image or text, regardless of food product thickness or otherdimension.

One embodiment of the printing system 10 is illustrated generally inFIGS. 1-7. The printing system 10 is configured to receive a foodproduct 12 from a delivery tray 22, to print on a surface of the foodproduct 12 and return the food product 12 to the delivery tray 22. Thesystem is also configured to do so automatically and continuously for apre-determined number of food products 12. The system 10 comprises aprinter 14 having a print head 16 and nozzles (not shown) wherein theprint head 16 and nozzle are configured for printing with edible ink.The print head 16 can be a carriage for an ink cartridge where the inkcartridge may be filled with edible printer ink. The printer 14 alsosupports an extendable and retractable receiving arm 20 therein.

The receiving arm 20 is operably connected to a power source within theprinter 14. The receiving arm 20 is extendable and retractable withrespect to the position of the path of the print head 16. The receivingarm 20 has a first end and a second opposing end and a substantiallyflat receiving surface extending therebetween. The first end is operablyconnected to a mechanism for retracting and extending the arm 20. Thesecond end and at least a portion of the receiving surface of thereceiving arm 20 are configured for extending outwardly from the printer14. When extended, the receiving arm 20 may receive a food product, holda food product, and/or return a printed food product to the deliverytray 22. The receiving arm also holds or supports the food productwithin the printer 14 and during printing on the surface of the foodproduct 12.

With respect to the printer 14, the print head 16 moves linearly backand forth along a gantry in the manner of a standard inkjet printer forejecting (edible) ink towards the print surface and thus printingpre-selected content on a print surface positioned below the path of theprint head 16. The printer 14 is in communication with a controller 50wherein software may be used to control printing of the content on oneor a plurality of food products 12.

In further detail, the receiving arm 20 moves in a directionperpendicular to the print head path such that the receiving arm 20extends and retracts across or through the path of the print head 16. Inone embodiment, the receiving arm 20 is a substantially flat,rectangular support plate which extends towards a holder 26 of thedelivery tray 22 in order to engage with and remove the food product 12from the delivery tray 22 as well as to return printed food products tothe delivery tray. A top surface of the receiving arm 20 is a receivingsurface for food product and may be textured or otherwise provided witha surface to increase a co-efficient of friction between the receivingarm 20 and the food product for retaining the food product 12 on the arm20.

The receiving arm extends to receive or return the food product 12 andretracts from the tray 22 into the printer 14 and into a position belowthe print head 16 for printing. Once content is printed on a foodproduct, the receiving arm 20 then extends to return the food product 12back to the delivery tray 22. The delivery tray 22 then advances toprovide a second unprinted food product 12 to the receiving arm 20. Abase 40 for providing power and controlling advancement and verticalpositioning of the delivery tray 22 in synchronization with thereceiving arm 20 and a sensor system 110. The base 40 is spaced apartfrom the printer 14 and may be removably connected to the printer 14 viaa stabilization arm 50 that extends from a housing of the base 40 toremovable connection or coupling to a housing of the printer 14.

The receiving arm 20 is also configured for vertical movement such thatthe receiving surface of the receiving arm 20 is movable between twopositions, a raised and a lowered position, where these positions allowthe receiving arm 20 to retrieve and return food products 12 withrespect to the delivery tray 22, and may allow for advancing of thedelivery tray 22 when the receiving arm 20 is extended. The verticalmovement of the receiving arm 20 also allows for selective positioningof the receiving arm and thus a vertical position of the food productpositioned thereon for printing.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5A-6, the sensor system 110 is positioned withinthe printer 10 near the print area and are configured to detect theposition of the print surface within the print area for initiatingprinting when the print surface is at a selected position. The sensorssystem 110 may comprise a position or proximity sensor of any type. Forexample, a photoelectric or laser sensor is used. An emitter 112 ispositioned within the printer and on a first side of the print area 114and a receiver 116 is then positioned within the printer 14 on a second,opposing side of the print area 114 such that the sensing area includesthe print area 114 and the print positions between the receiving arm 20and below the print head 16. One or more sensor systems 110 may beincorporated into the printer 14 in order to detect the verticalposition of the print surface. The emitter 112 provides a beam of lightacross the print area 114 and as a food product 12 and print surface arepositioned within the beam of light, the receiver 116 records the lighttransmitted or blocked and sends a signal to the controller indicativeof a position of the print surface and indicative of vertical adjustmentif needed.

In one or more embodiments, an array of sensors may be used. By way ofnon-limiting example, FIG. 6 illustrates the sensor system 110 that maycomprise an emitter 210 and a receiver or sensor 212 where the emitter210 comprises a linear, vertical array of LED lights 214 and an LEDsensor 212. The emitter 210 may comprise a plate supporting the array ofLED lights 214 and a sensing envelope 218. Thus, as illustrated by thearrows 220 and 222 respectively, light is emitted from the array 214 andreceived by the sensor 212 and a signal is provided by the sensor 212 tothe envelope 218. The emitter 210 and sensor 212 are spaced apart andare positionable within the printer system 10 as described previouslyabove. The sensor system 110 is configured to provide an accurate andimproved indication as to where a top surface of the food product 12 islocated or positioned as the receiving arm 20 is moving the food product12 with respect to the printer system 10. A filter 216 may also beprovided in front of the sensor 212 to filter and thus allow emission ofa selected wavelength of light which the system is configured to senseor detect. The filter 216 allows for the reduction of errors indetermining position of the print surface by reducing ambient, externallight errors due to external light sources interfering with the sensorsystem.

In the illustrated embodiment the food product 12 is a dessert item suchas a cookie. However, while examples of food items include variousshapes, sizes, and types of cookies, the food items that can be printedwith this system are not so limited. Frosting sheets, rice paper, bakerygoods having at least one substantially flat surface for printing animage thereon, and other food items may be printed using this system.

The system is further configured with one or more control boards incommunication with a computer or controller for configuring andinitiating the printing process. The one or more sensors are incommunication with the controller and configured to send signalsreadable by the computer or controller for adjusting the vertical heightof the print surface for example. The system also allows for loading ofunprinted food products and unloading of printed food products duringprinting or otherwise “on the fly.” The control board or boards allowfor the delivery of a first food product, detecting the position of theprint surface with respect to the print head and print nozzles,adjusting the position of the print surface with respect to the printhead when the position detected does not match the selected position,and printing of the first food product, as well as return of the firstfood product to the delivery tray, advancing of the delivery tray toprovide a second food product for delivery, delivery of the second foodproduct, detecting of the position of the print surface with respect tothe print head, adjusting the vertical position of the print surfacewith respect to the print head if needed, and printing of the secondfood product, return of the second food product to the delivery tray andadvancing for delivery of one or more subsequent food products forprinting and return in the same manner. Thus, the system allows for theautomatic delivery, printing on and return of a plurality of foodproducts wherein the products may have varying thicknesses.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure.

1. A system for positioning a food product with respect to a print headfor printing on a surface thereof, the system comprising: a printersupporting; a movable support surface for supporting the food productthereon, the support surface being vertically and horizontally moveablewith respect to the print head; and a sensor for detecting a position ofa surface of the food product positioned on the moveable support surfacewith respect to the print head, wherein the sensor provides a signal tothe printer indicative of a position of the surface of the food productand wherein the moveable support surface is adjustable in responsethereto.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor is a positionsensor configured to detect the position of a top surface of the foodproduct.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises anemitter and a receiver spaced apart within the printer with the printhead therebetween.
 4. The system of claim 3 wherein the emitter providesa beam light across a print area below the print head for detecting avertical position of the surface of the food product with respect to anozzle of the print head.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the supportsurface is selectively and automatically positionable below the printhead, the positioning of the support surface based at least in part on athickness of the food product supported thereon, a selected distancebetween the print surface and a print nozzle for printing, orcombinations thereof.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the printer is anink jet printer configured for use with edible ink.
 7. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the support surface is constructed from a food gradematerial comprising a metal such as stainless steel, or a plasticmaterial.
 8. The system of claim 7 wherein the support surface istextured to provide a co-efficient of friction sufficient to securelyretain the food product thereon during movement and printing.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the food product is an edible element havinga substantially flat surface, a pastry, cookie, frosting sheet, ricepaper, or a combination thereof.